1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to packaging of semiconductor devices and, more particularly, to techniques for insulating bonding wires during assembly of an integrated-circuit package.
2. Prior Art
The trend in integrated circuit packaging is to have the spacing between bonding pads on an integrated circuit die become smaller so that the pitch of the bonding pads gets tighter. For this reason and for other reasons, such as this use of multiple bonding tiers, the length of the bonding wires in IC packages are getting longer and longer bonding wires have a tendency to electrically short-circuit together.
Various attempts have been made to electrically insulate bonding wires to avoid having adjacent wires touching each other and electrically short-circuit. One technique provides insulation on the wires prior to wire bonding. Insulating the bonding wires prior to bonding created problems such as modification of wire-bonding machines, increased costs, decreased yields, and charring of the insulation material which contaminates the integrated-circuit die.
Another technique provides for coating the bonding wires with a silicone spray after wire bonding. Using this so-called "wet" technique, the sprayed silicone material can get on the leadframe or substrate on which the die is mounted. During encapsulation of the die and bonding wires, this silicone material causes a loss of adhesion of the encapsulating material to the leadframe or substrate. This silicone spray also prevents good adhesion of plating materials on the leadframe.
Consequently, a need exists for a dry technique for electrically insulating bonding wires to prevent electrical short circuits therebetween.